With the increasing popularity of smartphones, multifunctional portable devices, and SSDs, demand for NAND flash memory has skyrocketed. The global NAND market is set to grow 18% in 2011. Moreover, NAND flash device capacity and speed is also increasing. Average data transmission speeds have climbed ten-fold to 400 Mbps. These technological innovations, together with the proliferation of end-product markets, are driving explosive bit growth and production volume increases, and reinforcing a trend towards longer device test times. With device speeds expected to increase further, NAND manufacturers require a test system that lowers test costs while offering an operating frequency range that can support high-speed interfaces.
Thus there exists a need for next-generation NAND flash memory test solutions that can scale to meet the coming demands of high-speed testing. There exists a need for technology that delivers unprecedented test time and test cost reductions.